( 20 ) 
Alternate day tapping is gaining adherents both 
on account of economy and reduced liability of trees, 
so tapped to Brown Bast. 
After the first year of tapping, the alternate-day 
V cut may be expected to give 75 per cent, of the- 
yield obtained from a cut on one-third daily. In 
the first year, the comparison is much less favour- 
able to alternate tapping; and, where a quick return 
is of importance, the trees might be opened up and 
tapped for twelve months on a third, changing over 
to alternate-day tapping at the end of this period. 
Conclusion. To sum up, the general trend of 
thought is now to regard plantations 
as valuable permanent properties and to treat them 
accordingly. 
When dealing with a slow-growing permanent crop, 
rash experiments are to be deprecated; and, above 
all, health of culture should be the main considera- 
tion. Phenomenally high yields, lasting for short, 
periods only, would be of little use. 
Unfortunately our knowledge of the physiology 
of the rubber tree and the relationship of the latex 
to the general metabolism of the tree is still small. 
At the same time, attention to problems connected' 
with the breeding and selection of improved strains 
of trees in respect of yield and other desirable* 
characteristics are not being neglected. It is de- 
sirable to emphasize, however, that work of this 
nature must be necessarily slow in the case of a 
plant such as the rubber tree. 
